Device for packing poultry

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a device for packing poultry. A difficulty often occurring when a chicken or such like is automatically put into a bag is, that the legs may protrude, tear the bag or at least when not rightly folded against the breast, will deteriorate the attractive display of the packed chicken. According to the invention retaining means lock the legs in claws, which allows pushing the legs by means of the claws into the bag in the right position. A further improvement consists in pressing on the cloaca of the chicken in order to stretch it when pushed in the bag. Also the claws are moved from a first spaced position in which it is easy to suspend a chicken on the claws into a position in which they are close to each other in order to bring them rightly into the bag.

United States Patent 1191 Mosterd June 18, 1974 [54] DEVICE FOR PACKINGPOULTRY 3,082,475 3/1963 Belknap 17/11 3, 13,487 10 1965 R lds.... 17 ll[76] Inventor: Jacob Hendrik Mosterd, En 334513 40 451966 gggg nMetkenbureau De 11, 3,474,489 l0/l969 Klieweret al... Surmame ra t, e ran 3,685,096 8/1972 Harben, Jr. 17/11 22 F1] (1: Se t. 11 1972 1 e pPrimary Examiner-Andrew R. Juhasz PP 287,840 Assistant ExaminerHorace M.Culver Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Larson, Taylor & Hinds [30] ForeignApplication Priority Data Sept. 10, 1972 Netherlands 7112520 [57]ABSTRACT The invention relates to a device for packing poultry. US. Cl99/485, 53/124 R, 17/11, A difficulty often occurring when a chicken orsuch l like is automatically put into a bag is, that the legs [51 Int.Cl. A220 21/06 may protrude, tear the bag or at least when not rightlyField Of Search 124 124 124 folded against the breast, will deterioratethe attract- 3/ 124 9 ive display of the packed chicken.

17/11 44'1; 294/103 8 According to the invention retaining means lockthe 99/485 214/1 B legs in claws, which allows pushing the legs by meansof the claws into the bag in the right position. A [56] References C'tedfurther improvement consists in pressing on the cloaca UNITED STATESPATENTS of the chicken in order to stretch it when pushed in 1,893,6101/1933 Belcher .1 53/124 A the bag. Also the claws are moved from afirst spaced 2,560,067 7/1951 Bell position in which it is easy tosuspend a chicken on the 2,739,347 3/ 1956 fP 8| claws into a positionin which they are close to each 2,885,850 5/1959 Sm1th .1 53/258 other iOrder to bring them rightly into the bag. 2,888,153 5/1959 Bozenka294/103 R 2,946,166 7/1960 Baxter 53/124 E 11 Claims, 13 Drawing FiguresDEVICE FOR PACKING POULTRY The present invention relates to a device forpacking poultry, provided with a modelling apparatus, an attaching meansfor a chicken and a means for moving said attaching means into saidmodelling apparatus.

A major problem with packing poultry is to see to it that the legs arefolded against the breast. In this natural position of the legs it isnot possible that they protrude in an undesired way, which may causedifficulties with closing a bag containing the poultry or even tearingthe bag. Also the display may be far from attractive.

It is a first aim of the invention to provide a device for packing achicken in which the legs of a chicken are positively held.

Herewith by a chicken any form of poultry is to be understood, suitablefor packing, e.g. so-called slaughter-chickens, young cocks, ducks orducks chickens and so on.

A further aim of the invention is to provide a device for packing achicken in which the legs of the chicken are folded against the breast.

Stilla further aim of the invention is to provide a device for packing achicken in which springing back of the legs before the packing has beenclosed, is avoided.

Still a further aim of the invention is to provide a device for packinga chicken that is reliable and does not require any additional powersources such as pneumatic, hydraulic or electric motors or electrical orelectro-magnetical control means.

According to the invention a device for packing poultry, provided with amodelling apparatus, an attaching means for a chicken and means formoving said attaching means into said modelling apparatus, ischaracterized in that the attaching means contains two claws adapted toreceive the leg joints of a chicken and a re taining means movable withrespect to said claws for retaining said joints in said claws.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that theretaining means for each claw contains a pivotally mounted lever havinga curved portion at its lower side, a mechanical biasing means beingconnected to said lever urging it into the position in which said curvedportion is above the related claw.

A further preferred feature consists in that means are provided formoving said claws towards each other.

In order to facilitate withdrawing the claws from the chickens legs itis provided according to a further feature of the invention that clawsare pivotally mounted on support members that are slidably mounted withre spect to claw locking members so that in a first relative position ofsaid support and claw locking members (FIG. the claws are locked in aposition adapted to support a chicken and in a second relative position(FIG. 6) the claws can freely pivot to release a chicken suspended onthem.

In many instances it is desired to positively hold the chicken in thebag, especially if springing back of the legs or air enclosures have tobe obviated. Accordingly, it is provided that a support means is locatedbelow said claws, said support means being movable from a first position(FIG. 11) in which they can receive a chicken suspended on the clawsinto a second position in which they retain such a chicken.

A further improvement of the invention consists in providing a pressuremember for pressing a chicken suspended on said claws downwards.

In the following the invention is further elucidated by means of theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a device according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the device according to FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a detail in view on a larger scale in the position of FIG.1;

FIG. 4 shows the same detail as FIG. 3 in a further position;

FIG. 5 shows a section of the detail of FIGS. 3 and 4 in the position ofFIG. 4;

FIG. 6 shows the same section as FIG. 5 in an even further position;

FIG. 7 shows a detail of the apparatus in the position of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 shows a section of a further detail in a position correspondingwith that of FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 shows the detail of FIG. 8 in a different positron;

FIG. 10 is a section along the line X-X of FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 shows an additional apparatus suitable for cooperation with thedevice of FIGS. 1-10;

FIG. 12 shows the apparatus of FIG. 11 in an other position; and

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the time relation of control means usedwith the shown embodiment of the invention.

A device according to the invention mainly consists of an endlessconveyor, containing a number of devices, one of which is elucidated bymeans of FIGS. 1-10 inclusive.

The said apparatus consists of a frame 1, which at its upper side issupported by a pair of rollers 2, which each are mounted freelyrotatable on a shaft 3, said shaft 3 being fixedly connected with theframe 1. The rollers 2 are supported by a fixed guide 11, forming partof the said conveyor, which may be of any form and has not been shown.Frame 1 comprises two uprights 4 and 5, the inner sides of which serveas guide rails for guide wheels 7 of a subfrarne 8. Subframe 8 issupported by a fixed guide 10 by means of a roller 9. When frame 1 ismoved by the conveyor (not shown) in the direction of arrow A and guide10 tilts downwards relative to guide 11 subframe 8 will shift downwardsin the frame 1. A pair of rods 13 are mounted on frame 8 by means of apair of pivot connections 12. About each of these rods a sleeve 14 ispresent, which sleeves can shift relative to the related rod 13 in theirlongitudinal directions. Rods l3 bear at their lower sides claws 15which are rotatably mounted on said rods by means of shafts 16. (Videalso FIGS. 5, 6 and 7).

Furthermore, a central support 17 is mounted on the Subframe 8 by meansof crossbeams 18 which are stationarily connected with said frame 8(vide also FIGS. 3 and 4). Support 17 consequently is a verticallymovable member. It has on the outside a square diameter and is hollow. Apressure member 19 is guided in support 17. At 18' a tension spring 20is mounted to support 17, said spring 20 being at its lower sideconnected with two links 21 (FIG. 4). Support 17 further bears a pair ofdouble levers 23 by means of pivot connections 22, said levers having attheir upper sides a flat hook portion 24, at the end of which the links21 are connected. The hook portions 24 can cooperate with a roller 25which by means of a support 26 is rotatably mounted but for the rest isnot movable on a subframe 27, which itself has stationarily beenprovided on frame 1. Subframe 27 bears guides having an outer guideportion 28 and an inner guide portion 29, each combination 28, 29serving for guiding one chickens leg to hook said leg into a claw 15when suspending the chicken. For claritys sake the means connectingportion 29 with frame 27 for supporting portion 29 has not been shown inthe drawing. The double levers 23 at their lower sides bear retainingmembers 30 (FIGS. 3 and 4). Said retaining members are shaped such thatwhen they are positioned above a claw 15 (shown in interrupted lines inFIG. 3), the joint of a chickens leg suspended in claw 15 is wellretained. This position in which the joint is well retained is warrantedby an abutment 31, which is fixedly connected to the double lever 23 andcan engage the side ofa sleeve 14. For causing the two sleeves 14 tomove symmetrically relative to the centre plane of the central support17 links 32 are provided, which on the one hand are connected with rod13 by means of a pivot connection 32' and on the other hand arerotatably connected with each other by means of a pin 32", which isslidably mounted in a guide 33 provided on the support 17.

As appears more specifically from FIGS. 8 and 9 the central support 17has a slot 34, through which an arm 35 protrudes, said arm being fixedlyconnected to rod 19. Said arm bears by means of a shaft 36, a pawl hook37, which is retained in the position shown in FIG. 8 by means of arecess 38, engaging a retaining member 39 which is mounted on support17. Pawlhook 37 further has a hook 40 at its lower side, which hook cancooperate with toothed rack 41 provided on support 17. Pawlhook 37further bears an arm 42 supporting a control member 43.

Rods 13 (vide FIGS. and 6) are provided with supporting arms 44, whichprotrude through slots 45 in the sleeves l4 and each bear a freelyrotatable roller 46. Sleeves 14 lean on the shafts 44 by means of theupper limitation of the slots 45. Consequently they can move up and downalong the height of the slots 45 relative to the rods, by which they cancome from the position shown in FIG. 5 into that of FIG. 6, which causesrelease and tilt of the claws 15, because the ends 14' of the sleeves nolonger prevent the right hand supporting planes of the claws thereoffrom rotating counter clockwise about shafts 16.

The rollers 46 can cooperate with guides 47 (vide FIG. 1), which arefixedly connected with frame I. Said guides 47 in their upper portionsconverge downwards, whereas their lower portions are mutually parallel.Furthermore, said guides 47 bear upper and lower stops 48 and 49respectively which can cooperate with abutment members 50 each connectedto a sleeve 14. In the position, in which the abutment member 50 isadjacent stop 48 (FIG. 2) rods 13 have, relative to sleeves 14, beenshifted upwards and the rods and the claws are in the position of FIG.5. When, on the other hand, the abutment member 50 is adjacent stop 49and rod 13 has been shifted downwards relative to sleeve 14, claw 15 isswung downwards as is shown in FIG. 6.

In the position shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 a chicken has to be suspendedby its knee-joints into claws 15 by hand or by an automatic means whichhas not been shown and does not form part of the invention. Frame 1 ismoved to the right along guide 11 in FIG. 1, so that at the beginning ofthe descending portion of the guide 10 the subframe 8 starts to descend.By this pivot levers 23 move downwards so that the flat hook portions 24thereof move downwards relative to roller 25. By this spring 20 pulls bymeans of the links 21, the levers 23 from the position shown in drawnlines in FIG. 3 into the position shown in the same figure ininterrupted lines, so that the stop members 30 retain said kneejoints inthe claws 15. When guide 10 descends farther, so that frame 8 shiftsdownwards relative to frame 1, rollers 46 cooperate with the convergingportions of guides 47, so that sleeves 14 with rods 13 swing inwardsuntil they reach the position of FIG. 4. A further descend of guide 10thereupon sees to it that frame 8 can move downwards even farther, withwhich, however, no further swinging movement or rods 13 or sleeves 14takes place, because guides 47 then are mutually parallel.

With said further downward movement of frame 8 claws 15 come into amodelling sleeve consisting of a first arcuate member 64 and two furtherarcuate members 65 hingedly connected to member 64. This sleeve ismounted on a further subframe 51, which is fixedly connected with frame1.

Sleeve 64, 65 for instance may be cylindrical, that is to say having aninner surface that in each point contains a straight line, which linesare mutually parallel or funnel-shaped. It may be provided with movableparts or completely be stationary.

Pressing the cloaca for stretching the chicken is effected in thefollowing way:

During the movement of frame 1 along guide 11, pawl hook 37 is caused tocooperate with a stationary control cam 76, by which said pawl hookrotates about pivot connection 36 to the right and rod 19 can shiftdownwards in sleeve 17. Herewith cloaca-pressure member 77, which ismounted on the lower side of rod 19 contacts the chicken between thelegs at the location of the cloaca. Hook 40 grips into the teeth oftoothed rack 41 (FIG. 9). By this rod 19 cannot be shifted back in anupward direction. Thereupon guide 10 causes a continued downwardmovement of frame 8 relative to frame 1. Herewith rod 19 with cloacapressure member 77 cannot move upwards relative to claws 15. By this thechicken is pressed farther downwards through the sleeve consisting ofmembers 64 and 65, and it comes into a bag (not shown), which isattached to bag retaining member 78. Near the end of the descendingmovement a control rod 43 that by means of arm 42 is connected to hookpawl 37 hits a stop 74 and disengages hook 40 from the toothed rack 41.

The apparatus for supporting and retaining a chicken in a bag isillustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12. A base memher 154 is supported byconveyor means (not shown), so that the apparatus moves below a deviceas shown in FIGS. 1l0 inclusive into a position in which a bag with achicken in it can be received by the said apparatus. A supporting arm155 bearing a roller 156 running on a guide 157 is fixedly attached tobase member 154. Guide 157 is horizontal but its height position can beadjusted with non-shown adjustment means when poultry having a differentsize has to be packed.

Base member 154 furthermore bears a shaft I58, on which a lever 159 ismounted, bearing on one end a follower roll 160 and on its other end acup shaped memher 162. Furthermore said cup shaped member 162 supports afixed arm 163, which by means of a pivot 164 bears a double lever,consisting on the one hand of a bent arm 165 and on the other hand of aflap 166. Arm 165 is under the influence of a tension spring 167, whichis fixedly connected with cup shaped member 162. Furthermore an abutment1 68 is pivotably mounted on arm 165. A roller 169 is mounted on a sidearm of abutment 168. When roller 169 is moved upwards by means of aguide 169' (FIG. 12), the cooperation between 168 and abutment roller161 (FIG. 12) is ended, by which the entirety 165-166-168 is rotatedclockwise about pivot 164. Furthermore a flap 170 is rotatably mountedon a shaft 158, which flap is fixedly connected with an arm 171 which atits end bears a roller 172, that can cooperate with a stationary guide173 (FIG. 12). Starting from the position of FIG. 11 a bag with thechicken in it is descended from the sleeve 64-65 (FIG. 1) until thelower side of the bag rests on cup shaped member 162. By the shape ofguide 173 roller 172 now moves and by this flap 170 from the position ofFIG. 11 to the position of FIG. 12. By this also the lower part of arm171 moves to the left, so that roller 161 causes bent arm 165 to swingcounter clockwise about the pivot 164, which causes the swinging to theleft of flap 166. At the end of said movement roller 161 begins itslocking task after passing beyond the end of the abutment 168.

Shortly before this movement of flaps 170 and 166 rods 13 descendfarther together with the claws 15 mounted thereon. Cloaca pressuremember 77, which is mounted on the end of rod 19 is, however, declutchedfrom sleeve 17 because abutment cam 43 now comes into contact with anabutment 74', which is fixedly connected with guides 47. Thereupon claws15 together with retaining members 30 provided thereon are moved evenfarther downwards, which causes the legs of the chicken to be foldedagainst the body. At this moment the flaps 170 and 166 are sufficientlyclose to each other to prevent that the legs are again moved upwardswhen the claws are retracted.

Then roller 160 cooperates with a guide 176, so that the entiretyl59,162,l66,170 swings about shaft 158 to the right.

This swinging movement is favourable for cooperating with closure means,which may be of any type and are no part of this invention. The factthat the bag with the chicken is positively held facilitates as wellclosing as stretching the bag around. the chicken.

A survey of the movements occurring in the described embodiment is shownin FIG. 13. In this figure the same references are used as in thespecification so that it is possible to see immediately how controlfunctions are interrelated in time.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for modelling poultry, a device having a pair ofU-shaped claws each adapted to receive a leg of a fowl and eachpivotally mounted on respective ones of a pair of elongated members,said elongated. members each being pivotably mounted by means of a pivotpin for movement of the claws toward and away from each other, said pinsbeing movably mounted for movement of said elongated members to and froin a directon normal to said movement of said claws toward. and awayfrom each other, a pair of link means, one of said link means beingconnected to one elongated. member and the other being connected to theother elongated member, a pair of locking means, one of which is mountedon one of said elongated members and the other being mounted on theother of said elongated members, each locking means being movable withrespect to the claw mounted on its related elongated member from a firstposition in which said locking means engages said claw to lock it in apredetermined pivotal position with respect to the elongated member onwhich it is mounted, into a second position in which it is retractedfrom the related claw to allow said claw to pivot with respect to theelongated memher on which it is mounted, and vice versa, a pair ofretaining means, each of which is provided with a curved surface andmovable from a first position in which said surface is above arespective claw into a second position in which said surfaceis retractedfrom said respective claw, first driving means connected to said pivotpins for moving said elongated members to and fro in said normaldirection, second driving means connected to said link means for movingthe portions of the elongated members that support a claw toward eachother and away from each other, third driving means for moving saidretaining members from their said first position into their said secondposition and vice versa, and control means for simultaneouslycontrolling both of said locking means.

2. A device according to claim I, in which each retaining meanscomprises a pivotably mounted lever, a mechanical biasing means beingconnected to each of said levers urging them into the position in whichsaid curved surface is above the related claw.

3. A device according to claim 2, in which the claws and the retainingmeans are mounted on a vertically movable frame. I

4. A device according to claim 3, provided with an abutment meansengaging said retainingmeans in a predetermined height position of saidframe and overpowering the said mechanical bias: means for keeping saidretaining means away from said claws.

5. A device according to claim 1 in which the claws and the retainingmeans are mounted on a vertically movable frame and in which the seconddrive means contain guides and rollers engaging said guides and beingmounted on said movable frame.

6. A device according to claim 1, in which a support means is locatedbelow said claws, said support means being movable from a first positionin which they can receive a chicken suspended on the claws into a secondposition in which they retain such a chicken.

7. A device according to claim 1 further comprising a pressure memberfor pressing a chicken suspended on said claws downwards, and means forcontrolling the said pressure member.

8. A device according to claim 7, provided with an adjusting means forautomatically adjusting the relative height position of said pressuremember with respect to said claws in dependence on the shape of achicken suspended on said claws.

9. A device as claimed in claim I mounted in frame means for movementalong an endless track, and control track means for effecting thevarious said movements as said frame means moves along said endlesstrack.

10. A device as claimed in claim 9 further comprising support meanslocated below said frame means in alignment with said claws and movableconcurrently with said frame means, and means for selectively movingsaid support means from a first position in which it can receive achicken suspended on said claws, into a second position for retainingsuch a chicken.

11. In an apparatus for modelling poultry, a device having a pair ofclaws each adapted to receive a leg of a fowl and each pivotally mountedfor movement from a first position for receiving and retaining a leg toa second position for releasing said leg, and vice versa, means mountingsaid claws for movement bodily in a first direction toward and away fromeach other and to and fro in a second direction normal to said firstdirection, locking means for selectively locking said claws in said legreceiving and retaining position and for releastheir first positionsinto their second positions and vice versa, and for simultaneouslycontrolling both of said locking means.

1. In an apparatus for modelling poultry, a device having a pair of U-shaped claws each adapted to receive a leg of a fowl and each pivotally mounted on respective ones of a pair of elongated members, said elongated members each being pivotably mounted by means of a pivot pin for movement of the claws toward and away from each other, said pins being movably mounted for movement of said elongated members to and fro in a directon normal to said movement of said claws toward and away from each other, a pair of link means, one of said link means being connected to one elongated member and the other being connected to the other elongated member, a pair of locking means, one of which is mounted on one of said elongated members and the other being mounted on the other of said elongated members, each locking means being movable with respect to the claw mounted on its related elongated member from a first position in which said locking means engages said claw to lock it in a predetermined pivotal position with respect to the elongated member on which it is mounted, into a second position in which it is retracted from the related claw to allow said claw to pivot with respect to the elongated member on which it is mounted, and vice versa, a pair of retaining means, each of which is provided with a curved surface and movable from a first position in which said surface is above a respective claw into a second position in which said surface is retracted from said respective claw, first driving means connected to said pivot pins for moving said elongated members to and fro in said normal direction, second driving means connected to said link means for moving the portions of the elongated members that support a claw toward each other and away from each other, third driving means for moving said retaining members from their said first position into their said second position and vice versa, and control means for simultaneously controlling both of said locking means.
 2. A device according to claim 1, in which each retaining means comprises a pivotably mounted lever, a mechanical biasing means being connected To each of said levers urging them into the position in which said curved surface is above the related claw.
 3. A device according to claim 2, in which the claws and the retaining means are mounted on a vertically movable frame.
 4. A device according to claim 3, provided with an abutment means engaging said retaining means in a predetermined height position of said frame and overpowering the said mechanical bias means for keeping said retaining means away from said claws.
 5. A device according to claim 1 in which the claws and the retaining means are mounted on a vertically movable frame and in which the second drive means contain guides and rollers engaging said guides and being mounted on said movable frame.
 6. A device according to claim 1, in which a support means is located below said claws, said support means being movable from a first position in which they can receive a chicken suspended on the claws into a second position in which they retain such a chicken.
 7. A device according to claim 1 further comprising a pressure member for pressing a chicken suspended on said claws downwards, and means for controlling the said pressure member.
 8. A device according to claim 7, provided with an adjusting means for automatically adjusting the relative height position of said pressure member with respect to said claws in dependence on the shape of a chicken suspended on said claws.
 9. A device as claimed in claim 1 mounted in frame means for movement along an endless track, and control track means for effecting the various said movements as said frame means moves along said endless track.
 10. A device as claimed in claim 9 further comprising support means located below said frame means in alignment with said claws and movable concurrently with said frame means, and means for selectively moving said support means from a first position in which it can receive a chicken suspended on said claws, into a second position for retaining such a chicken.
 11. In an apparatus for modelling poultry, a device having a pair of claws each adapted to receive a leg of a fowl and each pivotally mounted for movement from a first position for receiving and retaining a leg to a second position for releasing said leg, and vice versa, means mounting said claws for movement bodily in a first direction toward and away from each other and to and fro in a second direction normal to said first direction, locking means for selectively locking said claws in said leg receiving and retaining position and for releasing said claws to allow said claws to pivot to said leg releasing positions, a pair of retaining means each of which is provided with a retaining surface and movable from a first position in which said surface is above a respective claw into a second position in which said surface is retracted from said claw, and drive and control means for moving said claws toward and away from each other in said first direction and to and fro in said second direction, for moving said retaining means from their first positions into their second positions and vice versa, and for simultaneously controlling both of said locking means. 